1 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,360 Speaker 1: In this episode of the News World. The lives of 2 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: these men are essential to understand the American form of 3 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: government and our ideals of liberty. The founding fathers all 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: played key roles in securing American independence from Great Britain 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,000 Speaker 1: and in the creation of the government of the United 6 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: States of America. Now the life of John Jay. Jay 7 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: was born in New York City on December twelfth, seventeen 8 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:40,920 Speaker 1: forty five. His grandfather, Augustus Jay, was a French Huguenot 9 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: who came to America in the sixteen eighties seeking religious freedom. 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 1: His father, Peter j was a merchant who retired to 11 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: a farm and rune in New York shortly after John 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: was born. In his early years, he was educated by 13 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: private tutors and then entered King's College in the summer 14 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: of seventeen sixty. King's College became Priston much years later. 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: After graduating in seventeen sixty four, Jay became a law 16 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: clerk in the office of Benjamin Cassim. After his admission 17 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,680 Speaker 1: to the bar in seventeen sixty eight, Jay established a 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: legal practice with Robert R. Livingston Junior, and in seventeen 19 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: seventy one he opened his own law firm. In April 20 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: of seventeen seventy four, Jay married Sarah Livingston, the daughter 21 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: of New Jersey Governor William Livingston, and in May of 22 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy four Jay undered New York politics and he 23 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: never returned to his law practice. Jay initially wanted reconciliation 24 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: with Britain. He advocated for a peaceful resolution. Jay, as 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: a member the First Condinal Congress, wrote an address to 26 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: the people of Great Britain on October twenty first, seventeen 27 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: seventy four, outlining the grievances that the colonies said, but 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:57,000 Speaker 1: also hoping for a peaceful resolution. It's important remember that 29 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,639 Speaker 1: as the pattern of builds towards revolution, that in fact 30 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: there a lot of people wrestling with themselves. Do we 31 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,160 Speaker 1: really have to do this? And Jay was one of 32 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: those people. He wrote quote in almost every age in 33 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: repeated conflicts, in long and bloody wars as well civil 34 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: as foreign, against many and powerful nations, against the open 35 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: assaults of enemies, and the more dangerous treachery of friends. 36 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,840 Speaker 1: Have the inhabitants of your island, your great and glorious ancestors, 37 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: maintained their independence and transmitted the rights of men and 38 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: the blessings of liberty to you their posterity, be not surprised. Therefore, 39 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,919 Speaker 1: the we who are descended from the same common ancestors, 40 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: the we whose forefathers participated in all the rights, the liberties, 41 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: and the constitution you so justly boast of, and who 42 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: have carefully conveyed the same fair inheritance to us, guaranteed 43 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: by the plighted faith of government and the most solemn 44 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: compacts with the British sovereigns, should refuse to surrender them 45 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: to men who found their claims are no principles of reason, 46 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: and who prosecute them with a design that, by having 47 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: their lives and property in their power, they may with 48 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: the greater facility and slave you. Because of America is 49 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: now the object of universal attention, it has at length 50 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: become very serious. This unhappy country is not even oppressed, 51 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: but abused and misrepresented. And the duty we owe to 52 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: ourselves and posterity, to your interest and the general welfare 53 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: of the British Empire, leads to address you on this 54 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: very important subject. Know then that we consider ourselves and 55 00:03:37,800 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: do insist that we are and ought to be as 56 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 1: free as our fellow subjects in Britain, and that no 57 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 1: power on earth has a right to take our property 58 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: from us without our consent. That we claim all the 59 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: benefits secured to the subject by the English Constitution, and 60 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: particularly that inestimal woman of trial by jury, That we 61 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: hold it essential to English liberty that no man be 62 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: can on heard or punished for supposed offenses without having 63 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: an opportunity of making his defense. That we think the 64 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: Legislature Great Britain is not authorized by the Constitution to 65 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: establish a religion fraught with sandveinary in impious tenets, or 66 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:18,960 Speaker 1: to erect an arbitrary form of government in any quarter 67 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: of the globe. These rights we, as well as you, 68 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,680 Speaker 1: deem sacred, and yet sacred as they are, they have 69 00:04:26,760 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: with many others, then repeatedly and flagrantly violated. Jay contributed 70 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: to the early draft of the Olive Branch Petition, which 71 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: the Second Continental Congress wrote to King George the Third 72 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:42,279 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy four as a last attempt to reconcile 73 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: with Britain before going to war. Note just the term 74 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: Olive Branch petition. These are cornials who really want to 75 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: remain British. They really want to avoid war. They really 76 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: want to have the king respond so they can be 77 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,480 Speaker 1: loyal to the king. Furthermore, Jay was one of the 78 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: lead authors of the New York State Constitution, which replaced 79 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: the colonial Royal Charter. Notice. Step by step, reluctantly, he 80 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: moves from offering total support to Britain, signing an olive 81 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,839 Speaker 1: branch petition, and now writing notice not New York colony 82 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: New York State Constitution. Shortly after the ratification of the 83 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,159 Speaker 1: New York State Constitution, on May seventeen, seventy seven, the 84 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: New York Provincial Congress elected Jay to the Chief Justice 85 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 1: of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, where he 86 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 1: served for two years. During his time as Chief Justice, 87 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: New York was still under English rule. Jay wrote to 88 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: Governor Morris of his time as Chief Justice, quote, I 89 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: am now engaged in the most disagreeable part of my duty, 90 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 1: trying criminals. They multiply exceedingly, robberies become frequent, the woods 91 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: afore them shelter, and the tori's food punishment master course 92 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,280 Speaker 1: becomes certain and mercy dorned. A harsh system, repugnant to 93 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: my feelings, but nevertheless necessary. So Jay's torn because on 94 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:14,520 Speaker 1: the one hand, he really wants to be a nice guy. 95 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: He's really tried all the way through to appease Great Britain, 96 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: to appease the King. But the reality was they're now 97 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:25,400 Speaker 1: in a real war, and that they are in a 98 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: period where there's more and more dissolution of society, there 99 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: are more and more criminals, and that many of those 100 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: criminals found themselves sheltered by the Tories, who of course 101 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: were pro king, and he saw some of the criminals 102 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: as being their allies against the rebels who are pro American. 103 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: And so Jay finds himself on the one hand, he 104 00:06:46,480 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: doesn't really want to put these people in jail, but 105 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,520 Speaker 1: on the other hand, if he doesn't, the whole system's 106 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 1: going to fall apart. He's very conflicted because one form 107 00:06:56,440 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: of justice requires punishing them. But at the same time, 108 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: their very existence is an illustration of the conflict that 109 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,400 Speaker 1: the virtual civil war that is now broken loose. And 110 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: remember that about twenty percent of Americans remained loyal to 111 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: the King, who wasn't unanimity. The best estimate I think 112 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: he is about forty percent were in fact committed to 113 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: the revolution. At least twenty percent were committed to the 114 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: King in about another forty percent, frankly just wanted to 115 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: go about their life and stay out of it. So 116 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: it wasn't any kind of unanimous automatic hiphip Paray and 117 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: Jay is trying to balance justice what he really believes in, 118 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: with necessity, which he accepts to be true. Now he's 119 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: taken out of the court and from seventeen seventy nine 120 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: to seventeen eighty two he serves as the ambassador to Spain. 121 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: Remember by this stage he's the ambassador for the United States, 122 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,360 Speaker 1: and so he has broken decisively with England. He was 123 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: sent to Spain to convince the Spanish government to recognize 124 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:03,360 Speaker 1: America as a separate nation, without any success. Spain did 125 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: not want to risk any kind of relationship until it 126 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: became evident that Britain and the United States were going 127 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: to sign a treaty and recognize US independence. Spain was 128 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: very vulnerable the blockade by the British Navy, and they 129 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: didn't want to get into a fight directly with England 130 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,800 Speaker 1: if they could avoid it. Jay is continuing to think 131 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: about America evenis in Spain and ony tenth they seventeen 132 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: eighty five, he wrote to John Lowell and his vision 133 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: for a group of the United States. Quote, it is 134 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: my first wish to see the United States assume and 135 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,319 Speaker 1: merit the character of one great nation whose territories divided 136 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:43,559 Speaker 1: into different states merely for more convenient government and more 137 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: easy and prompt administration of justice, just as our several 138 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: states are divided into counties and townships for the like purpose. 139 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 1: Now Jay realized that we had this balance. We couldn't 140 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: stay thirteen separate small states without having the French, the British, 141 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: the Spanish, and others trying to manipulate this. On the 142 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: other hand, there's a real challenge. If you build a 143 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: government strong enough to stop foreigners from exploiting you, does 144 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:19,000 Speaker 1: it become so strong that the government itself exploits you? 145 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: And Jay realized, based upon the Spirit of the Laws, 146 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: a book written by Monuscue, a French theoretician about forty 147 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,200 Speaker 1: years earlier, that the best way to preserve freedom was 148 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 1: to have three different and separate branches of government. On 149 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: August eighteen, seventeen eighty six, he wrote Thomas Jefferson, quote, 150 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: I have long sought and become daily more convinced that 151 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 1: the construction of our federal government is fundamentally wrong to us. 152 00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:49,440 Speaker 1: The legislative of judicial and executive powers in one and 153 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:51,839 Speaker 1: the same body of men, And that too, in a 154 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: body daily changing its members can never be wise. In 155 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:59,319 Speaker 1: my opinion, these three great departments of sovereignty should be 156 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: forever set and so distributed as to service checks on 157 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: each other. Now, that was clearly Montusque's model, and it's 158 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: one which the Founding Fathers gradually all come to agree 159 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: is the right one. On January seventh, seventeen eighty seven, 160 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: Jay wrote to George Washington, quote, let Congress legislate, let 161 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: others execute, let others judge. In other words, clear division 162 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: of power between the three branches, something which remember we're 163 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: still fighting over. I mean, you have judges telling the 164 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,200 Speaker 1: chief executive what he can and can't do. You have 165 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:36,840 Speaker 1: Congress and several fights with the executive branch and the judges. 166 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: And that is by design. The Founding Fathers wanted a 167 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,080 Speaker 1: government strong enough to protect us from foreigners, and a 168 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: government that was weak enough that it could not, in 169 00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:50,959 Speaker 1: fact enslave us. And that's the model we're still wrestling with. 170 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: So on January twenty seventh, seventeen eighty six, Well, the 171 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: government was still one of the articles of Confederation, which 172 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,920 Speaker 1: had clearly failed. Jay wrote to Washington, warning him that 173 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: the population quote will be led by the insecurity of property, 174 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,040 Speaker 1: the losing of confidence and their rulers, and the want 175 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: of public faith and rectitude to consider the charms of liberty, 176 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: imaginary and de lusique. In other words, if they can't 177 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: get government to work, if they can't make life better, 178 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: if they can't find a way to solve problems of 179 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: inflation and other things, people is going to give up 180 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: on self government. On August fifteenth, seventeen eighty six, Washington 181 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 1: responded to writing quote year sentiments, that our affairs are 182 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: drawing rapidly to a crisis accord with my own. Now, 183 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,240 Speaker 1: these are the guys who just won the Revolutionary War. 184 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:55,200 Speaker 1: In Washington's case, he'd spent eight years in the field, 185 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,559 Speaker 1: only going back home command Vernon one time in eight years. 186 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: And they were looking at the great achievement of getting 187 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: free from Britain, gradually disintegrating because they don't have a 188 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 1: common government and a common set of rules. Continental Congress 189 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: wasn't capable of running things. And so they met in 190 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: Philadelphia and what was really a coup d etad. They 191 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 1: were supposed to go and fix the articles of Confederation. 192 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: Instead they just dumped them and they wrote the Constitution 193 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:27,199 Speaker 1: of the United States. Now, the Constitution, in order to 194 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: become real, had to go out and be ratified by 195 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: the people, and in order to convince the people, articles 196 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: had to be written. The most famous collection, I think 197 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,800 Speaker 1: the most famous and powerful pamphlets in political history are 198 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,479 Speaker 1: the Federalist papers. They're eighty five of them. They are remarkable, 199 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: and for anybody who truly wants to understand American government, 200 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,800 Speaker 1: there is no better starting point. Jay wrote five of them, 201 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: numbers two, three, four, five, and sixty four. His first paper, 202 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: Federals Number one, stressed the importance of government. Jay wrote, quote, 203 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,959 Speaker 1: nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, 204 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: and it is equally undeniable that whenever and however it 205 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: is instituted, the people must cede to it some of 206 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers. 207 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:18,200 Speaker 1: In his fourth paper, Jay wrote the need to be united, 208 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: writing leave America divided into thirteen, or if you please, 209 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: into three or four independent governments? What armies could they 210 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:28,920 Speaker 1: raise and pay? What fleets could they ever hope to have? 211 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: If one was attacked, with the others fly to its 212 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: sucker and spend their blood and money in its defense, 213 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 1: would there be no danger of their being flattered into 214 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,880 Speaker 1: neutrality by specious promises or seduced by a too great 215 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: fondness for peace. He's truly trying to lay it out 216 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: the way it really is, in a way that's remarkable. Now, 217 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:51,760 Speaker 1: despite all this work by Jay, there was a very absurd, 218 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:55,559 Speaker 1: false rumor about Jay's opposition to the Constitution. And this 219 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: is important because the Constitution is going to be adopted 220 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,800 Speaker 1: both in popular votes and in legislative votes all across 221 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: the country. The rumor first surfaced on November twenty fourth, 222 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty seven, when the Philadelphia Independent Gazetteer reported that 223 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: a non name source, and we're certainly familiar with this model, 224 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:17,400 Speaker 1: an unnamed source said, quote his excellency John Jay, a 225 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: gentleman of the first rate abilities, joined to a good heart, 226 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: who at first was carried away with the new plan 227 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: of government, is now very decidedly against it and says 228 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: it is as deep and wicked a conspiracy as has 229 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: ever been invented in the darkest ages against the liberties 230 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: of a free people. In New York. It goes by 231 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 1: the name of the Gilded Trap, and very properly, for 232 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:39,560 Speaker 1: when we find men of the first abilities and best 233 00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: intentions at first taken with it, how very artfully they 234 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: must have been drawn up and glossed over. And who, then, 235 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: wonder at the General Washington or anybody else, could have 236 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,400 Speaker 1: signed it. In convention, the Governor of New York is 237 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:54,960 Speaker 1: very active against it, and will not call the Assembly, who, 238 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: in that case will not meet this some months. In 239 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,920 Speaker 1: the meantime, the people there will have time to think 240 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,840 Speaker 1: for themselves on this important subject. This is clearly a 241 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:08,200 Speaker 1: report designed to weaken the support for the Constitution. It 242 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 1: was quickly reprinted in papers all across the colonies. In response, 243 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:16,160 Speaker 1: Washington wrote, quote, it is very unlikely, therefore, that a 244 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: man of his knowledge and foresight should turn on both 245 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: sides of a question in so short a space. I 246 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 1: am anxious, however, to know the foundation of any of this. Mattison, 247 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,440 Speaker 1: in response that said, the support quote is an arrant forgery, 248 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: and one Washington that quote, tricks of this sort are 249 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: not unknown with the enemies of the Constitution. And I 250 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: think we today have no idea how intense, how passionate 251 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: and how real the fight was over whether or not 252 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: to adopt the Constitution. Once Jay heard of this, he 253 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: wrote to John Vaughan on December first, seventeen eighty seven, 254 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: which was printed in the Pennsylvania Packet on December seventh, quote, 255 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: Dear Sir, I thank you for your obliging letter the 256 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, aught on and closing a paragraph respecting me 257 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: and misster Oswell's paper of the same date, You have 258 00:16:02,080 --> 00:16:04,840 Speaker 1: my authority to deny the change of sentiments that imputes 259 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,560 Speaker 1: to me, and to declare that, in my opinion, it 260 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: is advisable for the people of America to adopt the 261 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: constitution proposed by the Way Convention. If you should think 262 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: it expedient to publish this letter, I have no objections 263 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 1: to its being done there He responded, and in seventeen 264 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: eighty eight he wrote a pamphlet called and addressed to 265 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: the people of the State of New York, on the 266 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: subject of the Constitution agreed upon that Philadelphia, which Hamilton 267 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: cited in Federal's Number eighty five. Ben Franklin suggested that 268 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: Jay put his name on the pamphlet, as would add 269 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: weight to the document, but Jay did not take this 270 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 1: suggestion that the address appeared as an anonymous pamphlet. However, 271 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: in a June nineteenth, seventy eighty eight letter, his wife 272 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:50,600 Speaker 1: Sarah Livingston wrote the Jay's well known style, gave it away, 273 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: and in June eighth, seventeen eighty eight, Washington's Madison a 274 00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: copywriting quote. It is written with much good sense and moderation. 275 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: I conjecture, but upon no certain ground, that mister Jay 276 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: is the author of it. He sent it to be 277 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: some time ago, since which I have received two or 278 00:17:06,200 --> 00:17:10,000 Speaker 1: three more copies. The address summarized his arguments for the Constitution, 279 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:13,240 Speaker 1: the need for different branches of government, and dangers of 280 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:16,439 Speaker 1: government vested solely in one man or one body of 281 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: men quote like men to whom the experience of other 282 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: ages and countries have taught wisdom. Then only determined that 283 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: it should be erected by and depend on the people. 284 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,480 Speaker 1: Remembering the many instances in which governments vested solely in 285 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,760 Speaker 1: one man or one body of men had degenerated into tyrannies, 286 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: they judged it most prudent that the three great branches 287 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: of power should be committed to different hands, and therefore 288 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: that the executives should be separated from the legislative and 289 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 1: the judicial from both. Thus far the property of their 290 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: work is easily seen and understood, and therefore is thus 291 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: far almost universally approved. For no one man or thing 292 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:56,880 Speaker 1: under the sun has ever yet pleased everybody. The next 293 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,719 Speaker 1: question was what particular power should be given to these 294 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,639 Speaker 1: three branches. Here the different views in interest to the 295 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: different states, as well as the different abstract opinions that 296 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,840 Speaker 1: AIR members in such points, interposed many difficulties. On Sunday, 297 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,600 Speaker 1: April thirteenth, seventeen eighty eight, a day after Jay's address 298 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: was supposed to be published, as a prank, a medical 299 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: student waved a dismembered limit of some boys below a 300 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: window of the New York Hospital. This led to the 301 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: discovery of dismembered corpses inside the building, pointing to grave robbing. 302 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 1: A riot ensued, forcing physicians and students from the hospital 303 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:36,600 Speaker 1: to take refuge in the city jail. Hamilton, Governor George Clinton, 304 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: Mayor James Dwayne, and a small group of militia tried 305 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,200 Speaker 1: to stop the rioters from attacking the jail, but were unsuccessful. 306 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:47,159 Speaker 1: By that afternoon, the jail was still under siege, and 307 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: John Jay and Matthew Clark's and armed with swords, marched 308 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: towards the jail with fifty militiamen. Jay was struck in 309 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: the head with a stone and seriously injured, and according 310 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: to a letter from Jay's wife to his mother, Jay 311 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 1: was carried home for emergency medical attention. However, he recovered. 312 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:24,360 Speaker 1: January thirty first, seventeen eighty eight, New York State Senator 313 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: Egbert Benson proposed the state legislature that the delegates to 314 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,360 Speaker 1: the ratifying convention be chosen in the same number as 315 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: the state Assemblyman by all the free male citizens of 316 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: the age of twenty one years and upwards, and they 317 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: meet him Poughkeepsie the third Thursday of June. Despite initial 318 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: pushback from Governor George Clinton, both houses passed the resolution 319 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: setting elections for delegates for the end of April. Almost immediately, 320 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:52,440 Speaker 1: Jay's name started a pearing in the list of potential candidates. 321 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: On February sixteenth, seventeen eighty eight, someone named Quote, a Federalist, 322 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:00,480 Speaker 1: included Jay on his list of candidates. On February twentieth, 323 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: he was again proposed, with the writer saying of Jay, 324 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,440 Speaker 1: quote from his long services abroad and at home, in 325 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: the nature of his present office as Minister of Foreign Affairs, 326 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:11,560 Speaker 1: he must be supposed to possess the best information of 327 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: any of the United States on our relative situation with 328 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: foreign nations. A few weeks later, Quote an Independent elector 329 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: and Quote a Citizen included Jay on their proposed list 330 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,479 Speaker 1: of candidates. On April nine, seventeen eighty eight, Thomas Randall, 331 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,159 Speaker 1: a prominent New York merchant, put j in a more 332 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,199 Speaker 1: formal federal ticket for New York City and County on 333 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,920 Speaker 1: behalf of a number of your fellow citizens. Jay's name 334 00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:38,160 Speaker 1: was included on a nine man slate adopted a meeting 335 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:41,640 Speaker 1: of a large number of respectable mechanics and tradesmen, which 336 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: assembled at Van Waters Tavern. Jan in March twenty fourth, 337 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight. Letter to William Bingham said that the 338 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 1: election would be the most contested of any we have 339 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 1: had since the Revolution. That didn't prove to be correct. 340 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: The anti Federalists did not enter a slate, though some 341 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: votes were cast for their candidates. Two thousand, eight hundred 342 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: and thirty six ballots were cast, the largest number that 343 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:05,520 Speaker 1: had been courted in the New York City election at 344 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: the time. Jay one with two thousand, seven hundred and 345 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,520 Speaker 1: thirty five now has an example of respect and popularity. 346 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,040 Speaker 1: Let me repeat that number. Out of two thousand, eight 347 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty six votes, he got two thousand, seven 348 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,439 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty five. That's an amazing number. Somebody has 349 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:24,199 Speaker 1: run for office after day. I wish once in my 350 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:26,680 Speaker 1: life I could have had that murder. For days after 351 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: the convention began, Jay wrote to his wife, quote, the 352 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: proceedings and debates have been tempered and inoffensive to either party, 353 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: though the opposition to the proposed constitution appears formidable, more 354 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: so from numbers and other considerations. Jay's appearance on the 355 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,200 Speaker 1: floor of the convention caught the eye of many. The 356 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: correspondent for the New Or Daily Advertiser wrote on June 357 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 1: twenty first, seventy eight, quote, after the Chancellor had concluded, 358 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,200 Speaker 1: mister j. Rose commanding pleasure and satisfaction, and no doubt 359 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: he spoke convincingly on the points raised. Is the most 360 00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:01,400 Speaker 1: peculiar knack of expressing himself I ever heard fancy passion, 361 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,760 Speaker 1: in short, everything that makes in order. He is stranger 362 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: to you, and yet none who hear what are pleased 363 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,720 Speaker 1: with him and captivated beyond expression. One John at the 364 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: convention wrote to his friend in the Connecticut that he 365 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: quote found Jay's reasoning to be weighty as gold, polished 366 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: as silver, and strong as steel. On June twenty six, 367 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,120 Speaker 1: John Williams, an Upstate delegate, proposed a resolution that would 368 00:22:25,119 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: deny Congress the power to impose an excise tax on 369 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: products grown or manufactured the United States. The argument for 370 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: the resolution, according to Jay, were quote non matured and 371 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,640 Speaker 1: quote half baked. And Jay suggested they should go home 372 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: to cut grass rather than take up matters by halves. 373 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: It is a known Jay Mennett or just trying to 374 00:22:42,560 --> 00:22:46,880 Speaker 1: stall for time. Governor Clinton, the convention's presiding officer called 375 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: Jay's buff, asking why Jay didn't move to adjourn, and 376 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: Jay responded to the Clinton should spend time clarifying the position. 377 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,199 Speaker 1: The next day, in July first, Jay got up and 378 00:22:56,240 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: spoke his position against the resolution. According to Francis Child's 379 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,920 Speaker 1: notes of the neuro Ratification Convention debates, and this gives 380 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: you some feeling for Jay, who's really an intellectual, argues 381 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: in a very rational, methodical way. Quote John Jay rose 382 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:15,320 Speaker 1: and said that he would confine himself to a few remarks, 383 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 1: as the question had been pretty fully debated, he began 384 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,159 Speaker 1: with a description of the general characteristics of a government 385 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,120 Speaker 1: proper of the United States. It had, he said, been 386 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: justly laid down to the government, which was to accomplish 387 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,680 Speaker 1: national purposes, should command the national resources. Here a question 388 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: had been raised, who to be proper that the state 389 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,119 Speaker 1: governments should limit the powers of the general government relative 390 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 1: to its supplies, would be right or politic? That the 391 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,600 Speaker 1: sovereign power of a nation should depend for support on 392 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: the mere will of the several members of that nation. 393 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,720 Speaker 1: That the interest of a park should take place of 394 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,119 Speaker 1: that of the whole, or that the partial views of 395 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,879 Speaker 1: one of the members should interfere with and defeat the 396 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 1: views of all. He said that, after the most mature reflection, 397 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: he could see no possible impropriety in the general government 398 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:03,160 Speaker 1: having access to all the resources in the country. With 399 00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,080 Speaker 1: respect to direct taxes, it appeared him that the proposed 400 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: amendment would involve great difficulties. Suppose the state should refuse 401 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: to comply with not the same mode is the same 402 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: reasons which produced the non compliance? And do such state 403 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: to resist to impose the in collecting of the tax? 404 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: Would not a number of states in similar circumstances beack 405 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: to unite to give their resistance weight. They could not 406 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: all be forced. It's interesting, if you think about it. 407 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: We're currently having a fight over things like can the 408 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: federal government declare that's going after illegal immigrants, or can 409 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: a city or state decide that they can buy themselves 410 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: declare sanctuary. And of course, all the way to the 411 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 1: founding fatherst was now, of course not once you've made 412 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 1: a federal decision, no state or local community could interpose 413 00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: itself between the federal government and the application of law. 414 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: On July fourth, seventeen eighty eight, Jay wrote John Adams 415 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: that despite quote the many amendments proposed by the opposition, 416 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:00,840 Speaker 1: we proceed with much temper and moderation. I am not 417 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,959 Speaker 1: without hopes of an accommodation, although my expectations of it are 418 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: not very silquine. Even with awotion. In the same day, quote, 419 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: the Constitution constantly gains advocates among the people, and its 420 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: enemies in the Convention seemed to be much embarrassed. By 421 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 1: July eighth, the delegates finished their explanation of the Constitution, 422 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: and Jay wrote to Washington, quote the ground of rejected 423 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 1: seemed to be entirely deserted. By July tenth, fifty five 424 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: amendments were proposed in the categories explanatory, conditional, and recommendatory. 425 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: A fourteen man committee was appointed with John Jay as 426 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 1: a leader. Although what happened in this committee was never 427 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: any official reports, the New York Daily Advertiser did write quote, 428 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: when the committee met, mister j declared that the word 429 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 1: conditional should be erased before there should be any decision 430 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: of the merits the amendment. This occasion about an hour's debate, 431 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: and the Anti is determining not to give up that point. 432 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,960 Speaker 1: The committee was dissolved without affecting anything. According to Jay, 433 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:02,840 Speaker 1: a conditional ratification amounted to a virtual and total rejection 434 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: of the Constitution, and declared that they could not consult 435 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 1: with them at all if they insisted upon that point. 436 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,359 Speaker 1: According to the New York Daily Advertiser, both parties were 437 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,960 Speaker 1: firm and the committee ended without reaching any agreement. That afternoon, 438 00:26:15,040 --> 00:26:17,480 Speaker 1: Jay reported the convention of that quote, no plan of 439 00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 1: conciliation has been formed and no measure taken. He then 440 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:24,320 Speaker 1: blamed the anti Federalists for quote adhering rigidly to the 441 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 1: principle of conditional adoption which is inadmissible and absurd. By 442 00:26:29,240 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: July twenty third, after days of heated arguments, Jay wrote 443 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 1: Washington at the convention, by a vote of thirty one 444 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: to twenty nine, adopted the motion to strike out the 445 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:43,440 Speaker 1: words onconditioned and substitute in full confidence, though he cautioned 446 00:26:43,520 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: Washington that the opficertion planned to rally their forces to 447 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: regain their ground. And think about this. The Constitution of 448 00:26:49,880 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 1: the United States, in what is one of its most 449 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:57,400 Speaker 1: important states, is surviving by a vote of thirty one 450 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: twenty nine. Anybody who thinks that this was automatic or 451 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:05,280 Speaker 1: a done deal or easy, the work of Jay and 452 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:09,639 Speaker 1: others pulled off something which easily could have failed. On 453 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 1: July twenty fourth, Jay took to the FOID to express 454 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,200 Speaker 1: the hope the unanimous agreement could be reached for second Convention, 455 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:18,879 Speaker 1: saying we are now one people, all pledged for amendments. 456 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,360 Speaker 1: On July twenty fifth, Jay proposed amendment of boring all 457 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:27,080 Speaker 1: except natural born citizens from Eligiblita's president, vice president, or 458 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,000 Speaker 1: members of either House of Congress. This member was adopted 459 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 1: by the majority, but like many amendments of the New 460 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: York Convention proposed never was incorporated into the Constitution. In 461 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty nine, the Constitution having been adopted, John Jay 462 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,120 Speaker 1: became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court under Washington. 463 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,360 Speaker 1: He's best known for the case of Chisholm versus Georgia, 464 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,119 Speaker 1: the first significant case of the Supreme Court. In seventeen 465 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,040 Speaker 1: ninety two, Alexander Chisholm, the executor of Robert Farquhar's of State, 466 00:27:56,400 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: attempted to sue the State of Georgia over payments due 467 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,680 Speaker 1: to him for goods Robert Farquhart had supplied Georgia during 468 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:06,680 Speaker 1: the Revolutionary War. Georgia refused to appeal, claiming that as 469 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 1: a sovereign state, it could not be sued without consenting 470 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,000 Speaker 1: to the suit. In a four to one decision, the 471 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,240 Speaker 1: Court ruled in favor of Chisholm, with Chief Justice John 472 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 1: Jay and Justice as John Blair, James Wilson, and William 473 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:22,360 Speaker 1: Cushing and the majority. The Court ruled that Georgia did 474 00:28:22,359 --> 00:28:26,160 Speaker 1: not have sovereign immunity and could be sued. In response 475 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: to this ruling, Congress proposed the Eleventh Amendment, which was 476 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: ratified in seventeen ninety five, which prevented citizens of other 477 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,880 Speaker 1: states for foreign countries from suing states in federal court. 478 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: Now Washington cz J has more than just a justice. 479 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: In seventeen ninety four, at Washington's request, J went to 480 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: England to negotiate a treaty between Britain and the United States. 481 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: Jay's only bargainingship was the threat that the Nited States 482 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 1: whod joined the Danish and Swedish governments in defending their 483 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: neutral state and resisting the British seizure of their goods. However, 484 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,239 Speaker 1: Hamilton informed the British that the United States said no 485 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,000 Speaker 1: intention of joining the sugreement with Denmark and Sweden, thus 486 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,520 Speaker 1: leaving Jay with no leverage. The treaty addressed for very 487 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,160 Speaker 1: few of the United States interests and honorly granted Britain 488 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:11,640 Speaker 1: with more rights. The only thing that the United States 489 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: got was a surrender of the northwestern ports and a 490 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: commercial treaty of Great Britain that granted the United States 491 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: most Favored nation status. All the other issues, including the 492 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,680 Speaker 1: Canadian mean border, compensation for pre revolutionary debts, and British 493 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:28,600 Speaker 1: caesars of American ships, were to be resolved by arbitration. 494 00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: Jay conceded that the British could seize US goods bound 495 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: for France if they paid for them. On November nineteenth, 496 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:38,480 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety four, the treaty was signed. The treaty was 497 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,040 Speaker 1: controversial and unpopular among Americans, but it still managed to 498 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: be ratified by the Senate on a twenty to ten vote. 499 00:29:45,240 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: On June twenty fourth, seventeen ninety while negotiating Jay's treaty, 500 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:51,800 Speaker 1: he was elected as Governor of New York. Jay left 501 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,360 Speaker 1: the Supreme Court to take office and served as governor 502 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: for six years. While governor, he signed the Act for 503 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. The law all made children 504 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,080 Speaker 1: born to enslave mothers after July fourth, seventeen seventy nine, 505 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:08,000 Speaker 1: legally free. However, these children would be required to work 506 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 1: for their mothers and slavers until they reached the age 507 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: of twenty five for females and twenty eight for males, 508 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: but it was a first major step towards emancipation. In 509 00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: eighteen oh one, after twenty seven years of public service, 510 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: Jay decided to retire. By that time, Jay acquired seven 511 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty acres of land by inheritance. While he 512 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: was governor, he made renovations to his farmhouse in preparation 513 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: for retirement. He moved there in eighteen oh one, and 514 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,240 Speaker 1: by that following spring, his wife, Sarah died, leaving him 515 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: a widower with his three youngest children at home. Jay 516 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: never remarried and stayed there until his death in eighteen 517 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: twenty nine. You know, John Jay is an example the 518 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,160 Speaker 1: kind of person with a wide range of talents who 519 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:55,080 Speaker 1: didn't start out in life being anti British, didn't start 520 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: out in life thinking he was an American, but gradly 521 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:02,520 Speaker 1: over time not only concluded that independence was necessary, but 522 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: concluded that that required a sound government that would work 523 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,680 Speaker 1: and function, that would protect our freedoms, both from enemies 524 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,880 Speaker 1: abroad and from the dangers of tyranny at home. And 525 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: then he decided he would work in a variety of ways. 526 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 1: Think about all the different things he did in his career, 527 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: all the different jobs he held, and he was truly 528 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:25,000 Speaker 1: an American citizen and the kind of person who made 529 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: America possible. In that sense, John Jay deserves far more 530 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,160 Speaker 1: credit than he normally gets, and he was sort of 531 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:40,400 Speaker 1: the quintessential foundation on which America was built. You can 532 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:42,560 Speaker 1: learn more about John Jay on our show page at 533 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: newtsworld dot com. Newtworld is produced by ginglishry sixty and iHeartMedia, 534 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:51,240 Speaker 1: our executive producers guard Zi Sloan, and our researchers Rachel Peterson. 535 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: The art work for the show was created by Steve 536 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: Penley special thanks to the team of gingishry sixty. If 537 00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 1: you've been enjoying Newsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple 538 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,080 Speaker 1: podcas Cast and both rate us with five stars and 539 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 1: give us a review so others can learn what it's 540 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: all about. Right now, listeners of neut World can sign 541 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,480 Speaker 1: up for my three freeweekly columns at gingrichree sixty dot 542 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: com slash newsletter. I'm newt Gingrich. This is neutrald